Middle Grade Reads to Encourage Observation and Discovery

Exploring the outdoors is not just a summertime activity. Getting outside on an autumn day is a wonderful time to encourage outdoor exploration. These middle grade titles, both fiction and nonfiction, are perfect to jumpstart curiosity!

The True Blue Scouts of Sugarcane Swamp by Kathi Appelt

Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt

Finding Wonders by Jeannine Atkins

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

The Penderwicks : A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall

The Wolf Keepers by Elise Broach

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Beastly Brains: Exploring How Animals Think, Talk, and Feel by Nancy Castaldo

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

Saving Wonder by Mary Knight

Pax by Sarah Pennypacker

Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall by Anita Silvey